Sokka's 11
by AddienaTheBlueSpirit
Summary: {Modern AU} Sokka Ocean, Fresh out of prison, he learns his mentor, Iroh Agni, has been weaseled out of his hotel by his own brother. Sokka gathers a team to exact revenge, make some cash, and, of course, win back his wife. Sokka/Suki, Ozai/Suki
1. Prologue

**OCEAN'S 11**

**An A:TLA fanfic by AddienaTheBlueSpirit**

**Based on screenplay by**

**Ted Griffin**

**that based on a screenplay by**

**Harry Brown and Charles Lederer**

**that was based on a story by**

**George Clayton Johnson & Jack Golden Russell**

**Prologue**

A door opened and closed, followed by approaching footsteps as a man, dressed in prison fatigues, entered and sat.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." he replied.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Sokka Ocean."

"Thank you. Mr. Ocean, the purpose of this meeting is to determine whether, if released, you are likely to break the law again. While this was your first conviction, you have been implicated, though never charged, in over a dozen other confidence schemes and frauds. What can you tell us about this?"

"As you say, ma'am, I was never charged."

Three parole board leaders sat opposite Sokka. Judging him behind a

table.

"Mr. Ocean, what we're trying to find out is: was there a reason you chose to commit this crime, or was there a reason why you simply got caught this time?"

"My wife left me. I was upset." He said this all very off hand, "I got into a self-destructive pattern."

"If released, is it likely you would fall back into a similar pattern?"

"She already left me once. I don't think she'll do it again just for kicks."

A glance darted between the Board Members.

"Mr. Ocean, what do you think you would do if released?" Sokka considered this.

"I don't know. How much do you guys make a year?" Sokka deadpanned.

"Ocean, Sokka." Sokka stepped forth, and a guard doled out his possessions and a form certifying their return to Sokka. "Sign." the guard said, adding a piece of mail to the pile.

"This came today for you. Rest'll be forwarded to your parole officer."

The guard read its return address over Sokka's shoulder, "Those your lawyers?"

"My wife's."

He opened the letter, and as his eyes gazed over the papers within, he smirked just a little.

"What's it say?"

"I'm a free man."

Sokka pulled on civilian clothes and there's not a bare thread among them. He tugged his cuffs and smiled: The old skin feels good. One last item to don: a silver wedding band. Sokka considered it. Should he put it on?


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A sign read: "Lake Laogai Minimum-Security Correctional Facility." Someone has graffitied below it: "If you were in prison, you'd be home now." The great metal door opened, and Sokka stood within its frame, ready for release. If it matters, he was wearing his wedding ring.

He hovered there for a moment, on the precipice of freedom. The wind whistled a little on the other side of the gate, and the view ahead is not pleasant... Lake Laogai...Life is hard out there. But Sokka mustered his courage, then took his first step into free America...

His wingtips landed squarely on plush red carpeting. He heard the buzzing of a Casino floor: the hum of conversation, the Ding-Ding-Ding and thunk-thunk-thunk from the slots, the brisk whir of shuffled cards, and to Sokka, it's a hearth and fire and a comfy chair and a snifter of brandy.

He's home.

As he pulls out several crisp one hundreds, sets them on green felt, then sees them replaced by a neat pile of chips.4.

Sokka craned his neck about the casino, looking for someone - a friend, somebody who should be here - but without success. He turned his attention back to his cards, and the cards of the dealer.

Nine-ten. Stay. Dealer - seventeen.

Sokka won.

King-four. Dealer shows a six. Stick.

Dealer busted.

Queen-ace. Twenty-one.

Sokka won again.

A second dealer relieved the first, and Sokka recognized her with a smile - this wasn't the friend he was scouting for, but two hours out of the joint any familiar face is welcome.

"Hello, Katara."

The new dealer is Katara Ocean, Sokka's kid sister. She glanced up at Sokka, and her eyes went wide, like a nun who's discovered she's been dealing communion wafers to the pontiff himself. She quickly hid her astonishment.

"I beg your pardon, sir. You must have me confused with someone else. My name is Ju Dee. See?" She taps the name embroidered on her vest, although she is the most Watertribe-looking Ju Dee you'd ever seen. A pit boss circled close by and glares at them both.

"My mistake..." Sokka said, collecting his chips, doubled. "Table's cold anyway."

"You might try the lounge at the Grand, sir. It gets busy around one." Katara said.

"Thanks."

Sokka checked his watch - 12:58 - then the lounge around him: prison had more nightlife. He nursed a bourbon and folded back the New York Times as he scanned it. His eyes moved down the page and stop at a header - "Ember Island' Jasmine Dragon to be Razed; Former Owner Denounces Plans" - accompanied by two photographs...

The first: Tan, well-coiffed developer and new owner of the Jasmine Dragon, Ozai Agni, with a beautiful (if barely visible) woman on his arm. The second: Scowling from the print is the former owner, Ozai's brother, Iroh Agni.

"Catching up on current events?" Sokka lowered the paper and saw Katara sitting across from him, changed out of her dealer's threads.

"Ju Dee?" He asked, eyebrow arched.

"Glad to meet you. Katara Ocean wouldn't get by the gaming board." She looked at him long and hard, as if trying to figure something out. "You just out?"

"This afternoon." he replied.

Katara took in Sokka's drink and whereabouts laughing slightly...some things never change, her brother is one of them. "And already turning over a new leaf." She said, as she signals a passing waitress; who ignores her.

Sokka looks her directly directly in the eyes, this is why he's here. "You seen him?"

Katara shakes her head: No. "Last I heard he was in Gaoling teaching movie stars how to play cards." She paused. "Why? You don't have something planned already?"

Sokka suddenly found the contents of his bourbon very interesting. "You kidding? I just became a citizen again."

Katara stared at her older brother a moment, before finally catching his eye, and Sokka can't help but grin: of course he has.

Katara turned her eyes to the heavens. "Spirits..."

"It's tough now," Katara said, "Our line of work. Everybody so serious. Too many guns, too many computers. Whadda you gonna do? Steal from ordinary people?"

"That would be criminal, Sis."

"So what's left? Banks?" Katara gave a humorless laugh, "Banks have no money. It's all electronic. Only place that still takes cash is..."

"Casinos."

Katara suddenly realized what her brother was planning. "Oh, no..."

"Oh, yes..." He replied.

"When?" she asked.

"Soon." He stood and looked back down at his sister, "Interested?"

Katara smiled.

Sokka had his answer.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sokka pulled a business card from his jacket, picked up the phone again, and dialed the card's number.

"Yes, Officer Brooks? My name is Sokka Ocean. I'm just out, I'm supposed to check in with you within twenty-four hours." He listened, "No, sir, I haven't gotten into any trouble. No drinking, no sir." He listened, finishing his bourbon. "No, sir, I wouldn't even think of leaving the state." He ended the call right as a voice came over the intercom.

"Nomad Air Flight 815 to Gaoling is now boarding at Gate 15." Sokka set a hundred down on the bar.

"Keep the change." he said, heading towards Gate 15.

* * *

Zuko, tall, angular, and badly scared was leaning against his Ford Sky Bison outside a night club in Gaoling called the White Lotus.

A young woman, rushed to join him, "Hey! Hey, Zuko!" Zuko turns to the voice as he and the T.V. star, Ty Lee Grace made their way down a back alley. "Hey, I don't know if you're, uh, you know, incorporated or anything, like Zuko Agni. And, I don't know, incorporated, but you should think about it, really, 'cause I was talking to my manager yesterday -"

Zuko arched an eyebrow, "Liang?"

"No, not Liang, I mean not, not that Liang, my business manager, he's also Liang, he was telling me that since this, what we do, could be considered research for, you know, a future gig, that I should be able to write it off as a business expense. So he suggested that it'd be better if I wrote you a check, and thereby -"

Zuko looks at her as if she'd grown a third head, "Are you stoned?"

"Or, or we could keep it cash."

By this time, they had entered the club, where they weaved through hordes of young Gaoling nightclubbers.

"Alright." Said Zuko, as if he were signing his life over to the girl beside him, "Who's here?"

"Chan is here. Ruon-Jian is here. Hahn couldn't make it. He's got two weeks of reshoots in the Sai Wong Desert because somebody just figured out forty percent of the budget is coming from Omashu."

"That's a problem." said Zuko dryly.

"Chit-Sang is here."

"I thought they let him out to do that W.E.T. thing in the Northern Watertribe." Zuko asked.

"Couldn't work the dates." Ty Lee shrugged, "Oh, and he brought his girlfriend."

"Not the one from -"

"Uh-huh."

"I quit watching when Saya left Li after his accident." They pass on, and into the small but stylish back room. Zuko entered, Ty Lee in tow.

"Good evening, guys. A glance at the table reveals: the three waiting players are all young TV stars, Chan, Ruon-Jian, and Chit-Sang. They were here for a group poker lesson with Zuko. One star, indeed, had brought his girlfriend, Song, also a known actress, to observe.

Zuko just knew it was going to be a long night... "let's play some cards." And with those words his fate is sealed: the group lesson had begun.

"A hundred bucks to me..." Ty Lee mulled it over. "Ah, what the hell. Pocket change. Call."

Zuko leaned into Ty Lee's ear, whispering, "Why you bet a certain way is your business. But you have to make them think you're betting for a reason. Understand?"

Not even a minute passed before Zuko was instructing again. "Chan. You know what you have. Looking at them doesn't change them. Leave 'em where they are and make your bet. Chit-Sang, you're showing. Yeah, I know she's your girlfriend, man, but you can't... Thank you." Another hand passed before, "Ruon-Jian. Deal to your left."

A waitress entered from the club the dance music entered with her, and Zuko had never before been so glad to have a game of poker interrupted.

"One McCallum neat, and four bottled waters.

Zuko took in the sight - bottled water on a poker table. That decided it... Zuko thought, He was being punished. He had somehow angered the spirits, and was now being punished...

"Two pair - nines and twos." Chan said triumphantly.

Zuko checked his hand: a full-house of face cards.

Zuko folded, "You got me. Let's take a little break."

At the bar, Zuko ordered a double. He needed it, really he did.

A bartender shouted over the music, "How's the game going?!"

"It's been the longest hour of my life." Zuko said.

"What?!"

Zuko, hit with sudden inspiration, spoke again at the same volume, "I'm running away with your wife."

The Bartender, not able to hear him, smiled and flashed him a thumbs-up before moving away. "Cool, man!"

Behind the bar two go-go dancers writhed behind red-light district windows, and Zuko caught his own fatigued expression in their reflection. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a man passing through the pulsating crowd.

Someone familiar to him.

He followed.

* * *

Zuko returned to the back room with heavy reluctance.

Ty Lee grinned cheerfully, "Hey, Zuko, we got another player, if that's alright."

Ty Lee indicated the new arrival: Sokka.

Zuko looked as if there's a bad smell in the room. "What's this?"

Sokka shrugged, ignoring the glare directed at him. "The bouncer mentioned there was a game in progress. I hope I'm not intruding."

"No intrusion at all -" Said Ty Lee cluelessly.

"What was his name," Zuko asked Sokka, "the bouncer's?"

"I don't remember."

Zuko smirked, rolling his eyes, "A card player with amnesia. This should be fun."

With that smug comment, Zuko dealt the next hand.

"What do you do for a living, Mr. Ocean?" asked Ty Lee, "If you don't mind my asking."

"Why should I mind? Two cards, please..." Sokka paused for a moment, "I just got out of prison."

Ty Lee looked stunned, "Really?" She glance among the other players. "Really..."

Zuko, half to divert attention, said quickly, "Chit-Sang, you're showing again."

"Sorry."

Ruon-Jian spoke next and with a slight hesitation, "What'd you, uh, go to prison for?"

Sokka shrugged, "I stole things."

"What, like jewels? Diamonds"

There was a long silence in the room.

"Incan matrimonial headmasks." It was Zuko who had responded.

Looks were exchanged as everyone digested that.

"From a museum?" Chan asked.

"Gallery." Sokka replied.

"There a lot of money in those?

Incan matrimonial..."

"Headmasks." Sokka confirmed, "Some."

"Don't let him fool you, Chan. There's boatloads." Zuko said, finishing his deal, "One card to me... That is if you can move the things..." he turned to Sokka, pointedly. "... but you can't."

Sokka shrugged again, "My fence seemed confident enough."

Zuko shook his head, "If you're dealing with cash, you don't need a fence."

"Some people just lack vision." Sokka reasoned.

Zuko snorted, "Yeah, everybody in cell block E, I imagine."

Now the other players came to the realization that these two had a relationship...A criminal one, and, judging from their steely glares across the table, it was not a happy one either.

"Well, that's all behind us now." Sokka said.

"I should hope so." Zuko's response was cold and emotionless.

Sokka smiled, icily, of course it's not.

"I raise you five hundred dollars." There was a hush in the room. Sokka had thrown down the gauntlet. He and Zuko held each other's gaze.

"Guys: Day One: what's the first rule of poker?" Zuko asked.

Chit-Sang struggled to remember, "Um, never bet on, uh, on a -"

Ty Lee cut in, eager to show off how much she'd learned, "'Leave emotion at the door.'" She quoted it effortlessly.

Zuko grinned. At least someone had been paid attention durring these lessons. "That's right. My friend here just raised me out of pique." He paused, as though drawing out the suspense, "Today's lesson. How to draw out a bluff. This early in the game, that much money, I'm thinking he's holding nothing better than a pair of face cards. Ruan-Jian, raise him."

"Okay. Uh, your five hundred and..." Ruan-Jian does the math in his head, "another two?"

Zuko nodded, and Ruon-Jian pushes in his chips. "Ty..."

Ty Lee didn't need Zuko's prompting, "Seven to me. Plus three. What the hell."

"Indeed. But be careful you don't push him too high too fast. Want to keep him on the leash. I call." It was Chan's turn and he hesitated...

"What's that to me? A thousand?"

"All you have to do is call."

Sokka fed off Chan's further hesitation. "What? Is your girlfriend holding your purse?"

That did it. Chan was in. The bet went to Sokka. He checked his hand, and Ruan-Jian started to whisper to Ty Lee.

"Contrary to what Mr. Agni may say, Ruan-Jian, I always check my cards before I make a bet. But be cafeful. I could tell from your face you're holding three of a kind or better. Five hundred to call. And two grand more."

Sokka stared Zuko down. The others looked a little pale.

"Guys, you're free to do what you like. It's a lot of money. But I'm staying in. He's trying to buy his way out of his bluff."

Nobody looks too eager to call, but nobody wants to leave a grand on the table, either. Finally, Ruan-Jian ponies up, and the others - not be outdone - do, too.

"We call."

Sokka set down his hand. Four nines.

It's a winner.

The others jaws dropped as threw in their cards. For the first time tonight, Zuko blanched.

"Shit. Sorry, guys. I - I was sure he was bluffing."

As Zuko plummeted in the estimation of all the guys around him, Sokka raked in his pot.

"Thanks for the game, fellas." He said before adding, "Hey, I hate to ask this, but could you sign something for me? It's for the guys in the joint. They just love all your shows."

* * *

"Ty Lee! Ty Lee!"

"Over here, Chan!"

"Oh. My. Spirits Ruan-Jian actually looked at me!"

"SONG-SANG FOREVER!"

The White Lotus erupted in a frenzy as Ty Lee, Chan, Ruan-Jian, Song, and Chit-Sang headed for the exit, signing autographs along the way. Sokka and Zuko exited, too, but of course nobody cared about the two of them. Not when the stars of the Firelight TV Series were there.

They climbed into Zuko's Sky Bison and Sokka and Zuko rode silently, staring out opposite windows at Sunset Boulevard.

Zuko was completely speechless, "That was, that was just..."

"Unprofessional." Sokka supplied.

Zuko agreed. "How was the clink? You get the cookies I sent you?"

"Why do you think I came to see you first?" Sokka pulled out a wad of bills from his jacket, peeled off half, and handed it to Zuko. "Ten grand. Half of it's yours."

"C'mon, Sokka." Zuko said, "You barged into my new workplace and ruined my professional reputation, least you could do is tell me you've got something better for me."

"Okay, I've got something better for you."

* * *

They ended up sitting in a coffee shop: The Flying Boar. It was a fairly trendy little place, and during the day it drew a crowd. At night, however, it was as good as a ghost town.

"How's Suki?" Zuko asked.

Sokka stared at him with a look that said quite plainly: Are you serious? "Next subject, please."

"Alright." Said Zuko, "Tell me."

"It's tricky. No one's ever done it before. Needs planning, a large crew."

"Guns?"

Sokka shook his head. "Not loaded ones. It has to be very precise. There's a lot of security. But the take..."

Zuko sighed, typical Sokka. Get a bad idea and sell the thing like mad without telling what the Hell it actually was. "What's the target?"

"Eight figures each." Sokka said. Yah, that confirmed it. This was a bad idea, whatever it was.

"What's. The. Target." To say Zuko was frustrated would be an understatement.

Sokka took a deep breath, then... "When's the last time you were in Ember Island?"

Zuko knew then what Sokka was up to... Zuko's last trip to E.I. had been a painstaking visit with his father shortly before Sokka was locked up. Sokka knew that, which could only mean one thing... "What? You wanna knock over a casino?"

Sokka put down his coffee, and shook his head, lifting three fingers: three casinos. Zuko put down his coffee, too.

It's after hours downtown. Dark, empty, dead, and in the library on the 40th floor, the lights are out. On the door there was engraved brass announcing: Hei Ba & Associates, Architects, and inside two flashlight beams strafed the wood-paneled, elegant offices as Sokka and Zuko completed some late-night reconnaissance. As Sokka prowled a cabinet full of blueprints, Zuko passed the time switching papers from a desk's in-box to its out-box.

At last, Sokka finally found the right set of blueprints and draped it across the desk.

"The vault at the Black Cliffs." Sokka said as Zuko scanned the document, then another underneath it.

"If I'm reading these right - and I think that I am - this is probably the least accessible vault ever designed." He looked at the documents again. "Oops. Actually, you know what, I'm wrong. It's definitely the least accessible vault ever designed."

"Yep." Sokka replied.

Zuko's brow furrowed just a little. "You said three casinos..."

Sokka flipped to next blueprint. "These feed into the cages at both the Boiling Rock and The Great Gates of Azulon." He tapped the fault. "But every dime ends up here."

"The Black Cliffs, Boiling Rock, and..." Zuko's eyes widened, "These are my father's places."

Sokka smirked, "Yes, they are. Think he'll mind?"

"More than somewhat." Zuko replied, running a hand through his hair as he tried to decide between laughing his ass off and using his flashlight to knock some sense into friend.

**A/N: **

**1. For those of you who are curious, W.E.T. stands for Wave Entertainment Television and can be compared to H.B.O. in reality. **

**2. Ember Island is based on Las Vegas and Gaoling is based on L.A./Hollywood.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three-

There was no ding. The elevator just arrived, and its doors parted for the security guard within. The guard was a large fellow. And was so tall he has to duck to exit. He was there to make his tour of the library. His next stop: the 40th floor.

* * *

As Sokka rolled up the set of blueprints, Zuko took into consideration the seemingly insane and suicidal plan...

"You'd need at least a dozen guys, doing a combination of cons." Zuko said, thinking out-loud.

"Like what, you think?" Sokka asked.

"Well, off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Bosco, a Jin Wei, a Mother Superior, two Jeong-Jeongs, and a Lau Gan-Lan. Oh, and the biggest Aunt Wu ever." He paused a moment, "Where do you think you're gonna get the money to back this?"

Sokka shrugged, "As long as we're hitting these three casinos, we'll get our bankroll. Ozai Agni has a list of enemies."

"But does he have enemies with loose cash and nothing to lose..." Zuko smiled suddenly, realizing... "Aha."

Sokka smiled, too, "Aha."

"Uncle Iroh." Zuko said, and suddenly everything fell into perspective.

* * *

As the security guard approached Sokka's and Zuko's voices slowly became clear.

"So..." Sokka said casually.

"So, here's what I think: You should take this plan, kick it around for a week or two." Zuko began bluntly, "Sleep on it. Turn it over in your head. Then: never bring it up to me again."

"Uh-huh. So what are you saying?" Sokka asked.

"I'm saying: this is like trying to build a house of cards on the deck of a speeding boat." Zuko replied.

"Really? I thought it was much harder than that -"

Suddenly the security guard's flashlight beam hit them square in the eyes. Sokka and Zuko put their hands up to block the light.

"Spirits, Pipsqueak, lower it a little, will ya?"

"Sorry." Pipsqueek said, lowering the beam. "You two done up here? Find what you wanted?"

"Yeah, thanks." Sokka said, "You mind if we borrow a couple drawings for the night? Make some copies."

"Whatever you need."

Sokka withdrew his money clip, peeled off a couple hundreds, and buried them in Pipsqueak's hand. "'Preciate it."

Sokka and Zuko waited for an elevator. When its doors opened, Zuko stopped Sokka from boarding.

"I need a reason. And don't say money." Zuko said, "Why do this?"

"Why not do it?"

Zuko stared at Sokka, the look on his face was clear: Enough bullshitting around.

Sokka obviously got the message because he sighed, rolled his eyes, and began: "Because yesterday I walked out of Lake Laogai Prison wearing my entire wardrobe and you're cold-decking movie stars." he said, "Because the house always wins. You play long enough, never changing stakes, the house takes you. Unless, when that special hand comes around, you bet big and then you take the house." Zuko smiled.

"You've been practicing that speech, haven't you?"

"A little. Did I rush it? It felt like I rushed it."

"No, it was good." They stepped aboard the elevator. As the door closed Zuko said, "I wonder what Iroh will say?" Sokka and Zuko look at each other.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I Own Nothing **

**Chapter Four-**

"You're out of your goddamn minds." Iroh Agni, the grimace of a man in mid-movement was forever cemented on his face as he scrutinized his two lunch guests, Sokka and Zuko, at his poolside. "Are you listening to me? You are, both of you, nuts. I know more about casino security than any man alive. I invented it, and it cannot be beaten. They got cameras, they got watchers, they got locks, they got timers, they got vaults. They got enough armed personnel to occupy Paris. Okay, bad example..."

"It's never been tried." Sokka started.

Iroh cut him off, "Oh, it's been tried. A few guys even came close. You know the three most successful robberies in Ember Island history?" He didn't bother waiting for their response, "Number three." said Iroh, "The bronze medal. Bato grabbed a lockbox at the Spirit Oasis. He got two steps closer to the door than any living soul before him. Adlai Stevenson got a taste of what NFL quarterbacks experience every Sunday... five fold."

"Second most successful robbery." Iroh continued, "The the Treetop '71. That girl actually smelled fresh oxygen before they got her. The billy club came down - whap! - across Smellerbee's skull and it's Air Temple '68 all over again. 'Course, she was breathing out of a

hose the next three weeks, the hippie. And the closest any man has gotten to robbing a Ember Island casino... and finally, outside of Caesar's in '87. He came, he grabbed, he got conquered. bullets rip Mr. Yao to shreds and he collapses on Caesar's steps a bloody pulp." Iroh paused, turning to look at Zuko and Sokka, "But what am I saying? You guys are pros, the best. I'm sure you can make it out of the casino. Of course, lest we forget, once you're out the front door, you're still in the middle of the spirit forsaken ocean!"

Both Sokka and Zuko looked chastened.

"You're right, Uncle." Zuko turned to Sokka, "He's right."

"Iroh, you're right." Sokka said, "Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs."

"That's exactly it." Zuko said, "Pure ego."

"Yeah yeah blah blah." Iroh said, waving them down.

"Thank you so much for setting us straight." Sokka said, "Sorry we bothered you."

They both rose to leave, as Iroh said, "Look, Zuko, you're my nephew, and besides, I owe you two from that thing with the guy in the place, and I'll never forget it."

"It was our pleasure." said Sokka.

Zuko grinned slightly, "I'd never been to Belize."

"Give Chey your addresses, I got some remaindered furniture I wanna send you." Sokka and Zuko began to circle the pool to leave. Iroh, of course, wasn't going to let them go that easily. "Just out of curiosity, which casinos did you geniuses pick to rob?"

Sokka stopped, almost as if he'd been waiting for this question, which of course he had.

"The Black Cliffs, Boiling Rock, and the The Gates of Azulon."

Iroh's nostrils flared, catching on. "Those are my brother's casinos...Zuko, those are your father's casinos."

Zuko fought back a smirk, "You know, Sokka, he's right."

Iroh waved them back, sipping on his umbrellaed cocktail.

"You guys... What do you have against Ozai?"

"What do you have against him?" Sokka asked, "That's the real question."

"He torpedoed my casino, muscled me out, now he's gonna blow it up next month to make way for another eyesore. Not to mention the way he treats you, nephew... Don't think I don't see what you're doin'."

"What are we doing, Uncle?"

"You gonna steal from Ozai, you better goddamn know. This sorta thing used to be civilized. You'd hit a guy, he'd whack you. Done. But Ozai..." Iroh shuttered, "At the end of this he better not know you're involved, not know your names, or think you're he'll kill you, and then he'll go to work on you."

"That's why we've got to be very careful." Sokka explained, "We have to be precise. We have to be well-funded."

"Yeah, you gotta be nuts, too. And you're going to need a crew as nuts as you are."

There was a pregnant silence for a moment, "Who do you have in mind?"

Sokka and Zuko both smiles; they'd hooked their fish and the game was afoot.


End file.
